FirstEnergy Corporation FE is scheduled to release first-quarter 2025 results on April 23, after market close. The company delivered a negative earnings surprise of 4.3% in the last reported quarter. (See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.)
Let’s discuss the factors that are likely to be reflected in the upcoming quarterly results.
In February 2025, FirstEnergy’s subsidiary, FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company, upgraded its electric system in eastern Westmoreland County to help prevent service disruptions, support voltage and accommodate growth. This line rebuild is expected to have benefited nearly 500 West Penn Power customers and boosted the company’s top line in the to-be-reported quarter.
During the first quarter, FirstEnergy’s subsidiary, Jersey Central Power & Light, completed the last of a pair of electric system upgrade projects in portions of northern and eastern Monmouth County. The two projects should have enhanced electric service for more than 4,000 customers in the county.
During the fourth quarter of 2024, FirstEnergy’s subsidiary, Mon Power and Potomac Edison, completed its second utility-scale solar site in West Virginia. Nearly 14,000 solar panels are producing up to 5.5 megawatts of clean, renewable power at the Rivesville site in Marion County to help meet the state's electricity needs. This is likely to have a positive impact on the first-quarter results.
However, severe storms in March 2025 caused power outages in portions of the company's service zones. Strong winds and heavy rain caused more than 311,000 consumers to lose power. This might have resulted in higher operating expenses to restore the power, thereby offsetting some positives in the to-be-reported quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 59 cents per share, indicating a year-over-year increase of 7.3%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pinned at $3.64 billion, implying a 10.8% improvement year over year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total electric distribution deliveries is pinned at 38,784.4 megawatt-hours, up 5.9% from the figure registered in the year-ago quarter.
Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for FirstEnergy this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here as you will see below.
FirstEnergy Corporation price-eps-surprise | FirstEnergy Corporation Quote
Earnings ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is +0.85%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: Currently, FirstEnergy carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Investors may consider the following players from the same industry as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this reporting cycle.
NextEra Energy NEE is likely to come up with an earnings beat when it reports first-quarter results on April 23. It has an Earnings ESP of +2.33% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.
NEE’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 7.72%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pinned at 97 cents per share, which implies a year-over-year increase of 6.6%.
Exelon Corporation EXC is likely to come up with an earnings beat when it reports first-quarter results on May 1. It has an Earnings ESP of +1.05% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present.
EXC’s long-term earnings growth rate is 5.99%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pinned at 72 cents per share, which implies a year-over-year increase of 4.4%.
Evergy EVRG is likely to come up with an earnings beat when it reports first-quarter results on May 8. It has an Earnings ESP of +2.59% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.
EVRG’s long-term earnings growth rate is 5.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pinned at 64 cents per share, which implies a year-over-year increase of 18.5%.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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